To submit a blog, please read the OxHRH Blog guidelines.
Rishika Sahgal and Andrew Byrnes - 3rd June 2019
This year sees the centenary of the abolition of the legal barriers to women’s entry into the legal profession in the United Kingdom. The Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 (UK), which commenced operation on 23 December 1919, provided that a person should not be disqualified ‘by sex or marriage from entering or assuming or carrying […]
Andrew Wheelhouse - 2nd June 2019
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that a woman was not liable in defamation to her ex-husband for writing public messages on Facebook stating that “he tried to strangle me”. In doing so the decision (which seems to bolster the right to freedom of expression as protected by Article 10, ECHR) offers some comfort to social […]
Jackie Dugard - 31st May 2019
On 3 April 2019, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) handed down judgment in the matter of Ngomane & others v City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality & Another (Ngomane). In its judgment, the SCA declared that the destruction of the applicants’ property by the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality (Johannesburg) was unconstitutional, and […]
Michael Rebell - 30th May 2019
This month marks the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision that declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. When he exited the Supreme Court building on May 17, 1954, after the decision had been announced, Thurgood Marshall, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, was asked […]
Daniel Bill Opio - 29th May 2019
Multiple actors from totalitarian states to extremist groups have been spreading ‘fake news’ for a very long time. However, social media has accelerated the speed and the reach of fake news. While it is important to limit the spread of fake news, States should be careful and ensure that these efforts do not unwittingly violate […]
12KBW international and travel law team - 28th May 2019
Kimathi and Others v Foreign & Commonwealth Office [2018] EWHC 2066 (also known as the ‘Mau Mau litigation’, after the Mau Mau rebellion that was instrumental in Kenya’s independence movement) was a group litigation by 40,000 claimants in the English High Court. They alleged ill-treatment perpetrated by Britain and/or its representatives in the final ten years of […]
Kennedy Kariseb - 24th May 2019
The Namibian Supreme Court’s decision in Director-General of the Namibian Central Intelligence Service Another v Haufiku & Others, (Haufiku) sheds some light on the tensions between national security and fundamental human rights and freedoms, in this case, the freedom of the press. The case concerned the Namibian Central Intelligence Services’ (NCIS) appeal against the High […]
Gianna Seglias - 24th May 2019
In a victory for tenants’ rights campaigners, the UK Government has announced it will consult on repealing s 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (“1988 Act”), which entitles landlords to recover possession under an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) without fault by the tenant after only six months. The campaign to #endsection21, which has been led by groups […]
Mwai Daka - 23rd May 2019
The recent UK Supreme Court case, Vedanta Resources Plc and another v Lungowe and others, affirms the principle that UK companies operating abroad owe a duty of care to those affected by the actions of the subsidiary in the foreign jurisdiction. The Supreme Court held that the ‘foreign jurisdiction’, in this case, Zambia, is the […]
Meghan Campbell - 22nd May 2019
Last week, the UK Supreme Court in DA, DS and others v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions upheld a series of legal reforms that capped the level of benefits for lone parents, who are likely to be mothers, with young children under the age of 5. Lone parents with young children are forced […]
Adilya Zhilgildina - 21st May 2019
Violation of LGBT rights and hate crimes have become commonplace in Ukraine. Beyond facing discrimination in employment, healthcare and education, LGBT people in Ukraine are targeted for violent attacks, sexual abuse and even murder. Despite the efforts of LGBT-friendly President Poroshenkoto improve the situation, social change is unlikely to be achieved without addressing the underlying […]
Renan Araujo - 20th May 2019
The Brazilian Supreme Court has begun a confidential inquiry, ex officio, to investigate alleged crimes against the honour of the Justices and ‘fake news’ about the Court. This inquiry is a part of a trend in which the Supreme Court has censored news reports relating corrupt conduct by its Justices and facilitated the confiscation of […]